An army of one
by JAYTOKMAR
Summary: Set roughly three years after season seven. Buffy and her slayer army has evil on the run, but a new enemy has come to end the slayer line for good if his demands are not met.


**I do not own BTVS.**

_**London, England.**_

As Buffy lay her head on the crimson pillows and pulled the covers over her shoulders she hoped that it wouldn't take long for her to fall asleep, the responsibility of being in charge of a slayer army was weighing heavily on her and not for the first time although back then she had her rock, her dependable shadow who kept her strong just by being there. She knew he was back but apart from the time he showed up in Italy with Angel two years ago she hadn't heard anything from either of them.

Since then she had decided that showing that she was dependant on Spike, Angel or anyone for that matter wasn't a good idea, not if she wanted the young slayers to see her as the strong and deserving leader that they needed her to be, so she remained alone, she still had her friends to lean on but that was different, the need for closeness with someone had pained her greatly at first, but most of that faded with time and the realization that this is the first time in a long time that she had been without someone for longer than a year and most of the time she liked it , proud of it even, no distractions no angst and an entire bed to herself to enjoy but sometimes the need to be touched had caused her to hug Xander more times than she felt comfortable with, more than once she had to stop herself from reaching for a kiss from her ever present male friend who lately, seemed to be the prime example of what a man was supposed to she felt her conscious mind slip away and the welcomed the darkness of sleep.

As Kennedy walked behind the other four slayers she was totally lost in her own thoughts, she couldn't believe how much she loved Ireland, not only enamoured with the fact the people knew why they took a tour of the numerous cemeteries in the area on a nightly basis and didn't bring it up but also when her lingering looks fell on one of the many red headed women in town the guys didn't seem to care that her interests fell elsewhere they just asked to be pointed to one of her friends who might be interested a guy with a thick irish accent, wich always seemed to get thicker whenever her and her friends patrolled the bars looking for vampires on the hunt, almost instantly the room was filled with shouts of _"thanks a million", "Be Jesus" _ and _"so your out for the craic then are ya?"._ They definitely put what they had to good use, more than once, one or more of her fellow slayers had been indisposed during the late night patrol of the cemeteries, she would have disciplined them if it weren't for the fact that a visit from Willow a couple of months ago caused her to miss three nights of slayage and knew that would be thrown back in her face.

"Kennedy? Kennedy? Hello are ya with us?" The inquiry came from Mary the Irish girl they came to find and train, unlike most of the inhabitants of Navan, the town they were currently in, she had blonde hair, always kept in a sensible ponytail, as with most slayers she was athletic and well toned thanks to her training over the last six months, she was seventeen the age Buffy had decided would be the youngest that would be trained and sent into the field.

"Of course i am, I'm just concentrating on my surroundings, as you should be." She lied, but wasn't concerned about her lack of her concentration, she was surrounded by well trained and capable women whom she trusted with her life without reservation, she smiled an almost arrogant smile when she thought of the women that accompanied her along the Boyne Rd. as they made there way to the last cemetery on their route.

Rebecca was Canadian and was five foot eleven, without heels,and cut her black hair so short that you could see her scalp in the right light, she took point as usual, she was terrifying, even to spar against, just throwing herself at you with a ferocious lack of concern for anything but to drive that stake of hers into your chest that looked more like a tree branch than a stake, not many could take her, unless you were a six foot five Irish guy who didn't mind letting a woman taking the lead.

Cali and Terri were sisters from Essex in England both had absolutely refused to go anywhere without each other and seeing as there was another slayer in their neck of the woods Buffy agreed to send them out to train newbies even though Terri, the younger of the two, was only seventeen, both were the same height at five foot two, despite the two year gap in their age and both had blond hair although Cali frequently changed her hair style, currently it was all curled into ringlets a job that was preformed by Teri every morning with a pair of travel hair curlers with a lot of moaning asking why Cali couldn't sport a sensible hair cut like hers, a very stylish bob that her hero _Buffy _wore the last time she saw her, both preferred to carry swords as their main weapons, a point that wasn't argued with by Buffy once she'd seen them sparring, it was clear to most that Terri was the better fighter than her older sister but always made sure she lost in a bid not to embarrass her.

Then there was Mary, who had too many brothers to count and a mother who didn't seem to understand the meaning of _"I'm not hungry"_ and then there was her dad Christopher or Christie as he preferred to be called, a deeply religious man who said The Rosary every night with his entire family, who when told of his daughters situation simply said "Well better her than one of me sons, the lazy so and so's wouldn't know the right end of a stake if it was labeled and stuck in their behind."

Kennedy smiled to herself as she recalled his kind eyes as he beamed with pride at the news of his daughters noble calling, it was then that she noticed that they were entering the black and gold spiked gates of the cemetery, suddenly all her thoughts turned to the job at hand.

"I can hear voices ahead, get your guard up" Rebecca's words,though startling, were said with no fear, they all reached for their weapons, Rebecca pulled her tree branch from an inside pocket of her jacket, Calli and Terri both reached back with their right hands and retrieved their swords from the sheaths on their backs, Kennedy pulled her modest stake from the back belt loop of her jeans, she looked too Mary to see her do the same but then reaching up her back with her left hand and remove a rather dangerous looking axe, Mary looked at Kennedy, her questioning look demanding an explanation.

"What? Me brothers got it for me." Kennedy smiled and shook her head in mock disbelief but felt the twinge of jelousy hitting her hard as she thought of Mary's family, she closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose, opened her eyes and blew her breath out hard through pursed lips, readying herself for a fight.

As Rebecca advanced on the voices she felt her heart thumping louder and louder, not from fear but from excitement, she felt Cali and Terri poised at her back and could almost smell their fear and resented their presence, she wanted to take on whatever was behind the next mausoleum by herself like Buffy used to, nothing but you, your stake and the monsters,but with Kennedy there she knew she had to work with the team if she didn't want to suffer another bout of stories from her on how she always beats the _"powerful Rebecca"_ with strategy and planning over brute force, in their sparring sessions.

They rounded the rather large mausoleum to see a trio of male vampires, two of them leaning on headstones facing them and the other standing with his back to the slayers in the throws of explaining the finer points of the doggy position to his compatriots, all three were wearing leather trousers and vests and all had their face in vamp mode, signaling that they had either just fed or that they were waiting for a fight neither a good sign.

"Wow , and i thought you looked gay" Rebecca stated with a wry smile directed at Kennedy, all three vampires now aware of their presence took the offensive and started towards the five slayers

with no clue of what they were walking into untill they saw the weapons in their hands.

"Slayers!" Exclaimed the vampire who originally had his back to the group of girls, at his announcement the two vampires behind him turned and ran in different directions, Rebecca instantly pursued the larger of the two catching up to him faster than she expected, she grabbed the collar of his leather vest and threw him to the ground.

Cali and Terri chased down the other, although faster than his counterpart he wasn't very smart just running in a straight line towards the bushes that made up the perimeter of the cemetery, Cali got close enough and swiped her sword across his legs causing him to crash into the ground, when he finished rolling he looked above him to see Terri standing above him in the middle of delivering the final blow, Terri used all her strength as she swung downwards with her sword through the throat of the terrified vampire, his expression lasting a lot longer in her mind as the rest of him disappeared in a cloud of dust.

"Get up you coward" Rebecca screamed at the vampire now cowering at her feet, but he just stayed there, staring at her with pleading eyes screaming.

"I'll do whatever you want please, i don't want to die, i'll do anything, just spare me, please?"

Rebecca grabbed him by the collar lifted him up and plunged the tree branch into his chest and watched him disintegrate into dust with nothing more than a look of disgust on her face.

As she walked back towards the mausoleum where the chase had began she met up with Cali and Terri both smiling at their triumph over the fleeing vampire, but when they saw the disappointed look on Rebecca's face they steeled their expressions and proceeded up the slight slope towards Kennedy and Mary who were interrogating the amorous vampire now lying on his back and partly spilling his guts to the the two women above him but mostly to the terrifying axe that laid across his throat.

"He told us he could take care of the slayers, and told us to dress tough and meet him here for a feast, please don't kill me please, i was just following orders, i ain't killed anyone for a year, i just feed some on tramps and then let them go, i didn't want slayer trouble."

Kennedy nodded at Mary, the axe lifted from his neck just a few inches, he smiled in appreciation but it quickly faded as the axe came back towards his neck and was driven through his exposed throat, the last thing he saw was the complete lack of concern on the faces of the five girls he was promised were to be his to defile and drain.

Rebecca was confused by the last words of the useless vampire that had just tuned to dust before her very eyes.

"What kind of idiot would send these douche bags after us?"

Kennedy displayed the cocky grin she wore whenever she was victorious and shrugged but that was quickly replaced with a look of dread as she felt the steely touch of a powerful hand gripping the back of her neck and lifting her off the ground.

"I would."

Kennedy dropped her stake in panic her hands rose to her neck trying to dislodge her attacker but to no avail, she was quickly drawn back, she heard him whisper.

"I'll kill you last"

She was then thrown to the feet of her fellow slayers who had already re-taken their fighting stance's, weapons drawn and ready to face the danger now walking forward from the shadows.

He stood about six feet tall wearing brown boots, blue jeans and a white t-shirt under a brown leather jacket his normal attire in stark contrast to the expression on his rather handsome face, his black hair cut short and his mouth closed and even, not displaying anger or enjoyment, but his eyes, his eyes were different, although green they seemed to burn red with fury.

He advanced on the slayers weaponless, like a vengeance driven father, Kennedy rose and grabbed the spare stake from her left boot and ran towards the approaching threat, her stake held in her right hand she led with her left foot and spun on her right foot to deliver a kick to his upper body or face, whichever it connected with first, she didn't care, as she felt it connect she continued to spin on her right foot only to realize that as she turned that her left foot had connected with his left hand and that her her right hand with the stake in it, was going to be grabbed by his right hand, as it fell into his grasp she felt her wrist twist and break.

She managed to scream out with the word, "Run!" before her own hand, under his power smashed into her jaw, breaking it and spreading more than a few of her teeth across the grassy verge they were standing on.

Kennedy attempted to rise to her feet but heard an almighty crack and then felt pain ripple throughout her entire body as she realized that her left thigh had been stamped on and crushed beyond repair, as she entered the paralyzing effects of shock she could only watch as her friends didn't listen to her order and continued to attack the mysterious stranger.

Mary already in mid air, even before he stamped on her mentors thigh, already regretted her choice of attack, he was waiting for her, he caught the shaft of the axe in his left hand and drove the palm of his right hand into an through her chin snapping her neck instantly, she died before even hitting the ground, now with the axe in his left hand he pivoted on the right foot he used to stamp Kennedy's thigh into oblivion and hurled the axe at Cali, it destroyed the sword she held up in a vain attempt to deflect it away and cleaved her head in two, her skull and eyes hit the floor first followed by the rest of her.

Terri didn't hear herself scream, but she did, she wailed and attacked through unhidden tears, her flurry of strikes and thrusts only connecting with blocking hands until her blade fell into his grip and with a strength she had never felt before he snapped the blade in half and plunged the remaining half into her heart, ending her pain and her life in one swift move.

Kennedy, barely conscious grabbed his ankle with her left hand. "Ruu...jusss. ruu.." her eyes unable to focus just concentrated on the blob of a figure that she knew wasn't him.

Rebecca looked down at Kennedy and then the bodies of her friends who were killed by this monster in less than three seconds, a red mist fell over her eyes, she howled in pain and crushed the stake in her hands into kindling, she balled her right hand into a fist and flung it at his chest, sacrificing it, in the hopes that she could finish him with the rest of her, he took the bait and grabbed her right hand with his left, crushing the bones in it as easily as she crushed the stake, her gamble paying off she lent back and with all the strength she could muster landed the sweetest headbutt ever delivered by a non professional soccer player, as she connected with his cheek Rebecca felt her own brow give way and crack, close to unconsciousness she fell back held up only by his grip on her right hand, he pulled her towards him and wrapped the fingers in his right hand around her throat and wrenched her head back to far for her body to handle and with a sharp snap she went limp, he lowered her gently to the ground and turned to Kennedy.

**"Buffy, Buffy" **Willow wailed in a pitch almost inaudible to humans at her friend, shaking her violently Buffy quickly came too, seeing tears streaming down the face of her best friend, "Its Kennedy, she's in...**Noooo" **Willow disappeared in a cloud of dust as she teleported to the side of her lover, now very close to death.

Willow arrived at the cemetery almost immediately after leaving Buffy's bedroom, she focused her eyes to the scene before her, she ignored the four bodies on the ground and concentrated on the man with his right hand leisurely hanging at his side grasping Kennedy by the throat, her broken body lying listlessly beside him.

"Let her go" Willow hissed, her eyes already completely black from uncontainable rage.

"No" Upon uttering his unfeeling reply he closed his hand together and extinguished what was left of the life he held in his hand, Kennedy's eyes dimmed and went blank as she died.

Willow flew into the air and raised her hands, the star filled sky turned black, as blue lightening crackled through her fingers and shot out at the cause of her intense pain, the monster held out his left hand and absorbed the strike, then returned it with such intensity that it burned red and dropped Willow to her knees.

"I've forgotten more about magic than you will ever know little girl" He walked to the red head,now screaming in agony, and grabbed her by the scruff of her green pyjama top and pulled her close to his face. "This was punishment for breaking my balance, now you will undo what you did or i will kill all of them, ending the slayer line and retake my position in this realm as Primo Vir."

He dropped the sobbing girl and disapeared in cloud of dust of his own.

**The following chapters will be shorter.**


End file.
